Have you ever stopped to think that pushing and shoving your clients beyond what they are capable of or are wanting to do is driving them away?
Have you ever stopped to think that the “GO HARD OR GO HOME” messaging is outdated and not required to help your clients fulfil their goals?
Have you actually listened to your clients wants and needs?
Have you asked them why they want to move their body and why they have decided to join you?
And, I don’t mean the general responses fitpro’s get like “I want to lose weight”. I mean getting to the real reason of why they are there.
Believe me when I say this, not all people join you because they want to lose weight and some people believe that is what they are supposed to say because isn’t that why everyone hires a trainer or joins the gym?
Context matters and as a fitpro it is important you go into this with your eyes wide open and be prepared to really tune into your potential client and what they are telling you.
In my almost decade of coaching I have lived and learnt, studied and researched as well as made many mistakes.
What I have learnt in bucketloads is having empathy and compassion for your fellow human will go a long way to making it in this industry.
What makes a great fitpro is someone who is eager to learn from others, be open to accepting when they are wrong and to not think they know it all!
Let me tell you a conversation I had recently with a new client.
New client walks in for 1st session and after filling out paperwork takes one look at the stepper machine I have in my studio and says “I don’t have to go on that, do I?”
My reply: “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do in your sessions. If something doesn’t feel right, you just let me know and we will do something else”
They looked at me untrustingly and then replied “So, you’re not going to beat me with a stick then?”
This is not the first time I have had similar conversations over the years.
The stigma that is attached to us as fitpros is VERY real and quite frankly it is stopping the very people we want to help, from reaching out to us.
Yes, it is stopping the very client you are trying to attract from joining your community.
Why? Because they are scared of:
- hurting themselves
- looking like a failure in front of you and others
- the way their body looks
- that they are too old or beyond becoming fitter
- expressing their true selves
- the expectations you might unintentionally put on them
- the thought of vomiting
- the thought of falling down in a mess
- being triggered by a past traumatic experience
- people laughing at them
- sweating too much
And the list is endless.
There are so many reasons why people don’t reach out to us and it is our responsibility to make sure their experience with us is a great one.
That new client above; They went on to tell me that they had had a very bad experience with a previous trainer a few years before and that this trainer had put them off for life.
Yet, they were with me willing to give it another go ONLY because they had been following me on social media for some time and reading my messaging and aligning with my values.
Now, it is time that I prove to this new client that I do in actual fact practice what I preach.
If you are weary of the fitness industry and unsure on where to start with gaining confidence with your movement practice come join me and let me show you a different approach in my free online learning workshop; Women Breaking Barriers – you can save your spot here: https://meeactive.lpages.co/wbb-pre-registration
About:
Rachelle has been practicing as a movement coach and female health and performance coach for almost a decade.
She coaches people worldwide with her Lean Into Life program as well as Meant To Move Online program delivering doable, exciting and fresh concepts on movement and wellbeing to her clients.
Rachelle is also a writer and presenter on topics such as movement, body image, active ageing and health and wellbeing. She enjoys educating and also learning from others. She upholds very strong core values around movement and wellbeing, coaching women to live a life they love without restriction or judgement.
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